Marcos: No order to arrest Dela Rosa
Government not behind Senate incident
Published May 13, 2026 11:35 pm
At A Glance
- President Marcos revealed that no government entity ordered the arrest of Senator Ronald "Bato" Dela Rosa.
- He debunked allegations that the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) was the one behind the shootout.
- "We will get to the bottom of this," he said.
President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. releases a statement hours after the incident in the Senate, where multiple gunshots were heard within the building amid lockdown on May 13, 2026.
Hours after multiple gunshots went off inside the Senate on Wednesday night, May 13, President Marcos revealed that no government entity was tasked to arrest Senator Ronald "Bato" Dela Rosa--a wanted man in the eyes of the International Criminal Court (ICC).
In a four-minute video message, Marcos said the incident at the Senate, where Dela Rosa has been staying since he resurfaced on Monday, was not carried out by the government.
He also debunked allegations that the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) or any part of the government was behind the alleged shootout, the circumstances of which remain a mystery.
"So lahat ng nakikita ninyong nakauniporme o armado ay nandoon at taga-doon. Nandun sila talaga. Doon sila nagdu-duty (So, all the people you see there in uniform or armed are assigned there. They are really stationed there. That is where they are deployed)," Marcos said.
"At isa pa ay nais kong mai-bida sa inyong lahat, wala pong instruction kahit na kanino na huliin si Senator Bato (And another thing I want to make clear to all of you: no instruction was given to anyone to arrest Senator Bato)," Marcos added.
As the Senate went under lockdown Wednesday night, the Office of the Sergeant-at-Arms (OSAA) reportedly told the media they were going to arrest "someone".
NBI left Senate on Wednesday afternoon
The President also said that he had been in contact with NBI Director Melvin Matibag since the afternoon, when the Supreme Court (SC) decided not to issue a temporary restraining order (TRO) on the implementation of the ICC arrest warrant against Dela Rosa.
He said he had instructed the NBI to leave the area as early as 4 p.m., and they complied.
After gunshots were fired in the Senate, Marcos called Matibag again to confirm if they had entered the Senate. The NBI director said they did not.
"Ang sabi sa akin: wala kang instruction, sir. Kaya't ba't namin gagawin yun (He told me: you have no instruction, sir. So, why will we do that)?" Marcos shared.
The President further explained that the uniformed personnel seen inside the Senate were Philippine National Police (PNP) officers deployed to guard, provide crowd control, and secure the Senate.
The other uniformed personnel carrying firearms are the Marines, he added.
According to Marcos, a Marine detachment is permanently assigned to the Senate for security purposes.
The other group in civilian clothes carrying long firearms are members of the OSAA under the Senate Sergeant-at-Arms, Marcos added.
Not work of government
Marcos insisted that the commotion that happened in the Senate was not done by the government, urging the public to calm down and vowing they will get to the bottom of this.
"At masasabi ko lang— at parang hindi po mag-aalala ang taong bayan— hindi po gobyernong gumawa nito. Walang pumasok na tiga labas na sundalo na militar na NBI sa Senado (And all I can say so the public should not worry: the government did not do this. No soldiers, military personnel, or NBI agents from outside entered the Senate)," he said.
According to the Chief Executive, they do not yet know who attempted to enter the Senate and fired those shots.
He assured the public that it would be investigated and that they are currently gathering all the evidence.
"Kalma lamang po, asahan ninyo yung gobyerno po ninyo hindi gagawin ito (Please remain calm. Rest assured that your government would not do this)," Marcos said.
The President also disclosed that he spoke with Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano, and they agreed to find out who caused the disturbance in the Senate.
"Nakausap ko na si Senate President Alan Cayetano at nag-agree kami (I have already spoken with Senate President Alan Cayetano, and we agreed). We agree that the thing to do now is to tell our people all to calm down. And we will get to the bottom of this," Marcos said.
He further said they would also determine whether it was a mere encounter or if "there were people involved who were trying to destabilize things or start trouble."
Aside from Matibag and Cayetano, Marcos also spoke with Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Jonvic Remulla, asking him to have the police officers manning the Senate submit a report regarding anything that happened or anything they did.